The Game
by PoorVirginPastaLover
Summary: Getting lost out in the middle of the woods is never appealing, but finding the mystery house and it's three residents just might make it a bit better. Only, the house is hidden for a reason, and sometimes secrets are just better left alone. The house guests have no idea what they have stumbled into, and the residents are trying their best to make sure it stays that way.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Pairing Warning: FrUK (FrancexEngland) GerIta (GermanyxItaly) Ameripan (AmericaxJapan) I plan to use these pairings interchangeably throughout the story, so don't like? Don't read. It really is that simple people :) **

A wave of wind blew softly causing the chestnut hair to sway and land in his face. After a few failed attempts to blow it back into place Feliciano laughed opening his eyes taking a moment just to enjoy the feeling of release the laughter brought him. Though like every pleasure it was short lived and he could only find further salvation in the beauty of his surroundings.

Trees lined the path leading up to what appeared to be quite a gorgeous building and leaves scattered the ground bringing a sense of serenity to the atmosphere. The building was old sure, it was evident in the way the stone had been worn down, and the once well-polished wooden door had been dulled and scratched past recognition, but it still stood in remembrance of its glory. It only gave the building more of a gentle feeling in its age, at least on the outside.

On the outside, where everything was alive and though isolated it was quite peaceful, especially on the days such as these where the wind blew gently rustling the last of the leaves from the trees and the crisp air gave the impression of an impending snow. It was always so beautiful here whenever it snowed, Feliciano thought giving a small smile.

"Italy, you will be caught out in the snow if you stay out here much longer." The sound of France's voice rang out to him from back inside the building and he turned smiling at the blonde man.

The nicknames were something that had been given from the time this place had first opened. No one person knew another's name, no matter how long they had lived there together. It wasn't that they did not trust each other, personally Feliciano would trust any one of them with his life, but money was the ruling factor in the world, it was the reason this place was ever created.

Money; which certain people would pay quite a bit for in order to have returned to them what they believe to be rightfully theirs. Needless to say, many of the people that were currently a refuge at this house were not so eager to be found by that which they are running from.

"Ok! I'll come inside now." Feliciano smiled at the other man giving one last look out at the path that led a very long stretch before ever reaching any sort of civilization. Invisibility, it was the key to their furthered existence and no better way to stay isolated.

When Feliciano turned around again France had already gone back inside though the door stayed cracked to allow him back inside. He smiled walking through the small clearing the crunch of dead leaves and grass reaching his ears as he made his way to the door.

He had not even reached a foot of the house when the smell of incense engulfed him and he treasured the last traces of fresh air before stepping foot back into the house closing the door quickly behind him. No use letting out the heat that they could only manage from a series of fireplaces that had been situated around the house. It was hard enough not to freeze in this place during the winter, he would get majorly scolded if he pressed their luck any further by keeping the door open for too long.

He looked around the hallway stretching out before him ending in a winding staircase that he knew went up 3 floors and a hidden staircase that led down two. The upwards stairs had been there when they had taken over the house, the stone steps having become slick with overuse but he had learned after several bad falls to take them slowly. The rest of the house was in much of the same condition; worn down. It was bearable, and definitely had better conditions than he had been in before coming to this place.

Feliciano walked toward the hidden stairs that had been inserted by whoever had started this place many years back. Below ground was where they spent much of their time both on job and off of it even though what most people would consider to be the living areas were all upstairs. In truth though, many of the upstairs rooms were covered in dust from lack of use, Feliciano wasn't even sure most of the door still turned after so long. Only their bedrooms were still in a well enough condition.

The sweet aroma disappeared as soon as he opened the door replaced with a much more bitter of a smell that was almost as overwhelming as the scents upstairs were. He took a moment to adjust to the scent though after so long he wished he would have become too used to it to even recognize it anymore. It only brought guilt to his gut knowing what had to be done to cause such a scent.

He shook his head starting down the stairs closing the door behind him. He couldn't let himself think over any of that now, after so many years there was no use even thinking about what a mess he was in. This had been his best option.

**AN: Alright, here's the first chapter :D Hopefully this was much better than the summery had been... (have I mentioned I hate those things? No? Well I am now -.-") Anyways, feedback? I already have the next 3 chaps finished, and the more you guys give your opinion, the faster I'll post them up for you guys :) **


	2. Chapter 2

"Gott verdammt." Ludwig mumbled as he looked around seeing nothing but the endless forest of dead trees. "What is this, the dark forest? I've been walking for hours, I should have reached something." He growled feeling tired and he wanted nothing more than to lay down somewhere. He would take a cot at this point.

He wasn't even sure why he had let his brother talk him into this. So he had lost a drunken bet with his brother? He should have been smarter than to let Gilbert actually convince him to walk down here, and he definitely wouldn't have let him had he known that it led to absolutely nowhere, and he would end up lost.

Not to mention he was freezing. The snow had started up an hour ago, about the same time he decided to call the cops for a rescue because it had become apparent there would be no where to stay for the night. It had taken about thirty minutes of waiting around for him to decide that they were going to take too long and if he didn't get moving he would just end up curling up and dying from hypothermia. He sighed leaning against a tree glad he had at least work enough clothes to keep him warm enough. That might have been the best thing he had done for himself all day.

Ludwig closed his eyes trying to calm himself and clear his thoughts all the while telling himself to think over the growl of his stomach and the violent shivers his body had taken to. He had to think otherwise he would end up dying out here and never make it home in order to strangle his brother.

"Hey look Artie! There he is!" The voice rang out from beyond a few trees and Ludwig stood straight immediately looking over thinking that maybe now he would be able to get home. A surge of hope filled him and he walked to meet the two bickering cops.

"Yes, idiot, I can see him." The shorter of the two rolled his eyes and on normal terms the two would have driven him insane but right then he was just happy to get home. He would gladly deal with an entire day of the two of them if it meant he could get out of this freezing wasteland.

"Hello, did you two walk all the way here?" Ludwig stood in front of them now and he noted that the taller of the two seemed just a bit too pleased for being stuck out in a storm like this. The shorter of the two, arms crossed over his chest, at least looked about as displeased as Ludwig felt, though he thought perhaps it was due to the other blonde more than the conditions.

"No man! We drove here until the path got too narrow for the car to get through. We walked from there. I'm Alfred by the way!" Alfred stood taller as he introduced himself holding out his hand which Ludwig took giving a short nod in return.

"Ludwig. Can we start heading back to the car now?" He kept to the point crossing his arms over his chest both out of habit but also to keep his warmth conserved and he gave a deep breath the air creating a white puff in front of him.

"Well...the thing is, Arthur here had said you were dead and that we should just leave you out here. So, we went back to the car only to find that its stuck in snow. We can't get out. See, I told you he was probably still alive!" Ludwig scowled not sure how Alfred could smile while saying something like that. It was good to know that if the car hadn't of been stuck they would have just let him stay out here.

"Oh whatever, so he's alive, how about we just get moving already." Arthur walked passed them and Ludwig followed beside him without complaint. He was in silent agreement that if they couldn't get back to the car they could at least try to keep going until they found some sort of shelter. Alfred on the other hand hung back for a minute watching them with sad sort of eyes before following after them. Arthur thought the silence that followed Alfred's pouting a sweet relief. Any longer of that consistent meaningless chatter and he would have just hit him upside the head and left him out here.

"Hey, what's that?" Alfred's voice rang loud behind them startling Arthur who had put himself on autopilot just trying to stay focused on anything besides the cold. Ludwig looked back at Alfred only to look over to the right where the man was pointing letting out a sigh of relief when he saw a building in the distance.

"I wouldn't get too excited, we don't even know if it's inhabited. Chances are it'll be just as cold as out here." Arthur turned toward the large house anyways and started heading toward it all three of them walking in step. Despite his words the short blonde had picked up his pace just trying to get there quickly. It had been a longer day than he would like to admit even before getting stranded out there with such an idiotic man.

"Why do you have to be such a downer man? Lighten up a bit!" Alfred stopped a few feet in front of the door staring up at the building with a sort of accomplishment as if he were the sole reason that house was there to greet them. Ludwig just ignored the two of them walking up to the door knocking on it waiting a few minutes before turning back to the two cops when no response came.

"Bloody hell, I told you guys it was going to be empty." Arthur sighed walking up the three steps to the cracked door it taking no effort at all to break the knob and slide the door open. Alfred walked up behind him about to walk inside when they all stepped back in surprise not just at the intense scent of cinnamon that reached them, but also at the man that had stopped to stare at them.

"Oh non..." The heavy French accent reached the three men at the doorstep and even Alfred had stopped smiling and was staring at the man in surprise. Ludwig took a step back out of courtesy since he had just entered another person's home, not to mention broken his door. Arthur just stared for a bit, but none of them were quite sure how to respond.


	3. Chapter 3

"What in the hell are you three doing here? Why are you breaking into my home?" Francis walked over to the men and he would have crossed his arms had he not been holding a tray of food. He had heard the knock, it had been hard not to whenever it echoed off the walls nearly causing him to drop all of the food he had just worked so hard to create on the way down the steps.

No one ever came here, no one except their customers. No one else should even know they exist, you can imagine his surprise whenever suddenly there were three men busting down the door, two of which were cops. He stared all of them down working to not look afraid though it was hard not to whenever his heart was pounding in his ears and each of his nerves was on edge. It was worse than being left just before a climax!

"Hey man, we are sorry. There is a storm outside though, and we are kind of stuck out here. Mind if we stay here for the night?" Alfred stepped forward smiling at Francis who relaxed just a bit taking the man's casual nature as a sign that they were not there to arrest them. He glanced behind the other two seeing the snow had taken quite a turn in the past half hour that he had been cooking. He looked back between the three of them his mind racing through every one of the options and he thought he would just have to make sure none of them went downstairs; it would all be ok then...

"Oui, it has gotten bad hasn't it? Come in then." He nodded slowly to them closing the door behind them and he took a deep breath walking into the room to the left of the hallway glad that he had taken the liberty to dust this room the other day. Even if it wasn't used much, it was still nice to have a presentable home for their "guests". He set the tray down on the table and turned to the other three smiling at them trying his best to hide all remaining nervousness.

"Please, sit down and wait here while I gather the others." The three blonde men walked into the room Alfred plopping down on the couch as if he had always been here while Arthur at least took care to check the seat before sitting in it. Francis watched the small blonde laughing at how he inspected the seat carefully before slowly sitting down in it. "I assure you, the seat will not bite. I cannot promise though that it will not give out under your weight." Francis smiled at him seeing the green eyes turn toward him fully and for a moment he was startled at their color. Never had he seen someone whose eyes were such a color.

"Hey! Are you calling me fat! Bloody frog." Francis laughed softly at the man's defensiveness and he shook his head about to deny it since that truly had not been what he had meant but the sound of Ludwig's voice rose over the both of them.

"So there are others staying here?" Francis turned to the larger man and he nodded watching Ludwig who had started spot dusting everything in sight not even taking a seat.

"Oui. I should go get them now, please stay here." He walked out of the room then sliding closed the double doors before leaning against the wall catching his breath for a moment. This was not good, this was not good at all... There were three strange men in his house who were not there for service, and certainly would not be pleased if they found out they would give it. He took a deep breath calming his nerves before he went in to tell the others his mind everywhere but where it normally was.

He stepped away from the wall knowing if he took too long their guests just might start to get suspicious and begin to look around for him. He headed down the hidden stairs quickly holding onto the walls on either side of the slim stairway. Francis stopped when he reached the last door on the higher of the two levels; the one used for the more civilized portion of their work.

He opened the door to a chorus of voices all asking about the food and he bit at his lip looking between the three boys currently inside.

"Ve~ France? Where's the food?" Italy's voice reached him the loudest considering he was the most outgoing of them all and he gave him a small smile trying his best not to worry them.

"Did something happen?" A softer voice reached him and Francis looked over to a small blonde boy cuddled up on a recliner his polar bear toy rested in his arms. He still winced each time he looked at the boy remembering the first day he had found him, laying out in the snow everything stained red except for that bear which had been purposefully tossed out of the way as if Canada had known it would be ruined by the scarlet liquid otherwise. The snow had saved the bear from any further damage other than water, but none of it had done any good for the boy himself.

"Hai, I am in agreement with Canada. Did something happen?" A choppier voice reached him and he looked over at the small Asian always amused at the group of boys he took care of here. He could remember taking in each and every one of them, could remember the shape they had been in, and how proud he had been when he had cleaned them up. Each one was physically gorgeous, as they had to be, but more than that each one was internally perfect despite the damage that had been done to them.

"Now, do not panic, but we have three guests upstairs." The boys looked confused at Francis's words and so he quickly continued to avoid the string of questions. "They are not here for anything except to stay here, but at least two of them are police. We just have to keep them ignorant until the storm lessens and they can leave." Italy's eyes had gotten big and Canada looked worried though Japan kept his face as calm as usual, something that Francis was grateful for.

"What will we say our names are?" Japan spoke out again and Francis returned his attention back to the black-haired boy giving a small smirk.

"Just play a game with them. Do not give away that we are hiding them, and I see no reason why we cannot simply play with them a bit, non?" The three boys nodded with Italy's being almost excited the hyper boy jumping out of his seat and walking over bouncing on his toes seeming excited to have more people to talk to. Francis laughed watching the other two follow and he turned Italy running upstairs.

"Wait, France? What room are they in?" The Italian called down from the top of the stares and France shook his head at how Italy always just ran into things without truly thinking about where he was going first.

"They are in the living room." He called up as he began his assent back up to the first floor.

"Ve~, ok!" Italy closed the door behind himself as he ran forward heading into the room the other three trailing behind hiding any feelings they may have to having the strangers in their home. They just had to make sure that none of them caught on to anything; that was it. Just had to keep their true nature invisible, it shouldn't be too hard. No pressure, even though the consequence in failing to do so would no doubt means death, or worse...


End file.
